Counting’ to 5’ at Comcast Center

Thursday

Jul 31, 2008 at 12:01 AMJul 31, 2008 at 2:04 AM

At first glance, a co-headlining tour with funky, pop music maestros Maroon 5 and sensitive indie-rock artists Counting Crows seems a bit odd. One band’s star continues to rise, thanks to their ability to jump from genre to genre, while the other is returning after a six-year album absence.

Eddie Shoebang

At first glance, a co-headlining tour with funky, pop music maestros Maroon 5 and sensitive indie-rock artists Counting Crows seems a bit odd. One band’s star continues to rise, thanks to their ability to jump from genre to genre, while the other is returning after a six-year album absence.

And yet, when you hear Adam Duritz of the Counting Crows and Adam Levine of Maroon 5 talk about the tour and their friendship, it becomes apparent that it was an obvious choice to put the two together.

“We like each other’s music, which is a good thing because when you’re on tour all summer it’s nice to be able to hear some music you like,” explains Duritz during a conference call last week. “Also, I think the great thing about co-headling is that you get a one-plus-one-equals-10 situation because people are hesitant to spend their money nowadays.”

Both bands, along with pop music darling Sara Bareilles (she’s the pianist who sings “Love Song”), will be at the Comcast Center (formerly the Tweeter Center) this Saturday at 7 p.m.

It’s interesting that Duritz indirectly brought up the state of the economy. One of the big music stories this summer is how the high gas prices are affecting bands on tour (some smaller indie ones had to cancel since it wasn’t economically feasible for them).

As for this tour, the bands are working with a company called Reverb, an organization that, according to its website, “educates and engages musicians and their fans to promote environmental sustainability.”

“The whole tour is going to be using biodegradable products and biodiesel fuel in the buses and we’re going to be offsetting our carbon footprint,” says Levine. “Which is essentially just paying for the emissions that we’re putting into the world.”

But aside from the environmental impact of the tour, there’s also the issue of Duritz’s personal health. The singer has been open about his struggle with a dissociative disorder that affects his grasp on reality. He has it under control now.

And, despite past reports, he doesn’t suffer from stage fright. In fact, it’s quite the opposite — it’s the loss of the connection he builds up with the audience that, in the past, has left him debilitated.

“The nature of my mental illness is such that it makes things seem hallucinatory and not real and so the best and healthy thing for you is familiar things,” explains Duritz. “And there’s a real backlash after you’re out there kind of connected to all these people, your band and then you go back to the room yourself. That’s always been difficult for me.”

But the bands haven’t had any difficulty on stage.

“I’m just happy to return with [the Counting Crows] because there are so few bands at this point that are for real,” says Levine. “There’s a lot of smoke and mirrors these days so it’s nice that I think we both have the same touring ethics and we both go out there and hit the road and still do it the old-fashioned way.”

Duritz agrees.

“It’s so easy to fake it in the studios,” says Duritz. “And there are a lot of bands you see on TV and when you see their show you realize they can’t play. Everybody on this tour is a musician.”

And, since this is a co-headlining tour, is it possible the bands would cover each other? At the very least, both Adams know which song they would pick.

“I like the song on your album ‘If I Never See Your Face Again,’” says Duritz to Levine. “I just like the funk of it and I like it because it gives you a lot of [creative] room [to cover it].”

“‘Long December’ probably,” replies Levine. “I love that song so much it’s insane.”

“Yes, and I’ll play the piano and you can sing it,” says Duritz.

“Sweet, I’d love to do some of those…we should do some of those,” says Levine. “I know that’s going to happen.”

So is it official? Will there be a Maroon 5 and Counting Crows collaboration?

“I can guarantee there’s going to be some sort of collaboration,” says Duritz. “It’s going to be fun man, it’s going to be a good summer.”